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South Bend, Indiana was awarded a Midwest League franchise in 1988.[4] Originally affiliated with the Chicago White Sox and bearing the name of the parent club, the team was renamed in 1994. The name "Silver Hawks" was chosen as an homage to the once popular Studebaker Silver Hawk automobile, which was manufactured in South Bend.

Notable former players include Brandon Webb, and Justin Upton, the #1 overall draft pick in 2005.

The team's home park is Four Winds Field. The stadium was built in 1987 and named for Stanley Coveleski, the Hall of Fame pitcher who retired to South Bend after a career in major league baseball that included pitching an amazing 3 complete games to help the Cleveland Indians win the 1920 World Series. September 5, 2013 The South Bend Silver Hawks announced that it reached an agreement with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, owners of Four Winds Resorts, for naming rights to its field. The field is now known as Four Winds Field. As part of the agreement, a permanent bronze memorial bearing the name and likeness of Stanley Coveleski will be installed at the main entrance in his honor.

Despite playing through rumors of sale and relocation in the near future to Marion, Illinois, the Silver Hawks managed a championship season in 2005, beating the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and winning the 2005 Midwest League Championship. The team also won league titles in 1989 and 1993.

Former Indiana Governor (and former South Bend Mayor) Joe Kernan formed an investment group to purchase the Silver Hawks in 2005. At the time, Kernan made it clear that a principal objective of the group was to keep the team from leaving South Bend.

In November 2011, Andrew T. Berlin of Chicago, a limited partner of the Chicago White Sox and Chairman/CEO of Chicago-based Berlin Packaging and the new owner of the team, ensured his commitment to the city of South Bend by signing a twenty-year cumulative lease agreement for the use of Coveleski Stadium. He then added a public commitment to the citizens of the region that he would invest two and a half million dollars of his own money to make upgrades to the city-owned stadium.[citation needed]

On September 18, 2014, the Silver Hawks and Chicago Cubs signed a four-year player-development contract through 2018. Owner of the team Berlin said in a statement. "Today is a turning point. I made a promise to the local community and government officials who welcomed me with open arms three years ago. I promised that I would return the team to its former glory days. And I promised that I’d do everything I could to bring people back to South Bend and prove that this is a wonderful place to invest in. Now one of the best and most beloved brands in the history of Major League Baseball is making a bold statement about this place too." [2]